1786. who we underftood were his nephews, and a number of other
December. c y e f s_ The King is a good-looking man, and appears about
forty-five or fifty years old : he is tall, ftraight, and well-made,
but his eyes feem rather weak, and affected with a kind of rheum;
but whether this is owing to difeafe, or a temporary cold, I cannot
fay. None of the Chiefs had any thing ftriking in their appearance,
though it was eafy to fee that they were above the common
rank.
The King’s nephews were by far the fineft men we had yet feen
at any of the iflands: they are not brothers. Piapia, the elder,
being, i f we underftood right, fon to the King of Atoui; and
Myaro, the younger, fon to a lifter of Teereteere.
Piapia is about five feet nine inches high, ftraight, and well proportioned
; his legs and thighs very mufcular, his ftep firm, and
rather graceful; and there is a dignity in his deportment which
Ihews him to be a perfon of the firft confequence. His countenance
is free and open, but rather disfigured by the lofs of three
fore teeth, which, as I underftood, were broke for the lofs of a
relation, it being the cuftom here for the Arees, or Chiefs, to part
with a tooth at the death o f a friend; his legs, thighs, arms,
and various parts of his body, are tattooed in a very curious manner.
Myaro is nearly as tall as his coufin, but call, (if I may be allowed
the expreflion) in a more delicate mould : he walks ereft and
ftately, and his ftep is very graceful and majeftic. It would, I
think, baffle the united powers of a Wilton, Bacon, and Roubiliac,
to equal the exadt fymmetry and fine turn of his legs and thighs,
1 nr
or indeed his whole body; in fhort, his figure has fomething in it
exceedingly prepoflefling. *-—*— 1
Teereteere, having fatisfied his curiolity for the prefent, and
Captain Dixon prefenting him with fome beads, and other trifles,
left us about two in the afternoon ; and we foon felt the good
effefts of his vifit, the inhabitants bringing hogs and vegetables in
much greater plenty than before, though from the little refpedt
they feemed to pay him, we were led to fuppofe, that his influence
over them was not great; in this point, however, we were mif-
taken.
T o lead thee regularly to a circumftance, which I am now going
to mention, it will be neceffary to refer fo far back as our fitting
out.
When we left England, the quantity of coals our veffel was fup-
plied with was very inadequate to a voyage like our’s, though they
were conftantly ufed with the moft fcrupulaus care.
As Falkland’s Iflands afforded no wood, the Coaffi of America was
the only place where we could procure any. Fully expecting to
touch at feveral harbours, and perhaps winter in King George^
Sound, what wood we got in Cook’s River was foon expended.
It cannot be forgot, under what circumftances, and with what
feludlance, we left the American Coaft j and the more, as fuel vs as
one of ourgreateft wants; for though we knew Sandwich Iflands
afforded moft of the neceffaries of life in great plenty, yet we almoft
defpaired of getting a fupply of fuel; but in this rcfpect were moft
agreeably dilappointed ; for we no fooner made the natives underftand